The Many Hats of a School Librarian

Heroes of the Surf by Elisa Carbone My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was enthralled! I couldn't wait to see what happened to Anthony, Pedro, and the other people on board the Pliny ship. The drawings were exquisite and the fact that it is based on a true story in the 1800's made me even more interested. I would love to recommend this book to picture book readers since the story is suspenseful, and there are longer paragraphs on each page. Historical fiction for second third and fourth graders. View all my reviews

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the type of book that feels like a journey with the lead character. It took me a little while to want to keep reading, but after about 50 pages, I really enjoyed "spending time" with Ida Mae Jones and following her struggles and successes during her WASP flight training. Ida Mae was the type of character I kept thinking about all weekend after I had finished the book. View all my reviews

Unsinkable by Gordon Korman My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was interesting because we all know about the Titanic. Especially because it is the 100 year anniversary of it's sinking. I liked to get the perspectives of children on the boat - in all sections of it. This is a series of 3 books so by the end of this one, all is still well on the ship. I wonder what happens to the characters in the end. View all my reviews

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt My rating: 4 of 5 stars I liked this book because mostly because of the way the author revealed information to us. A few times in the book - I thought - ooooohhhhhhh.... I get it, now. I struggled with the beginning because I don't really care about birds, drawing, and I dislike reading about kids with hard times at home because I just feel so sad and I don't like to feel sad when I'm reading. But soon I grew to really like Doug's positive attitude and no matter what is going on, he lives in the moment and thinks everything is ok for now. It's a good philosophy to have. View all my reviews

by Markus Zusak This book is about a 12 year old girl that lives in Germany in 1942 - during World War II under Hitler's reign. It is a Nazi Germany story like you have never read before and it gave me just a little taste of what it would be like to live in a little town with a war in my country. It's narrated by Death, which seemed very strange at first, but as I got further into the book, I appreciated the point of view because of the lack of grief when deaths were explained.  This is not a happy book, but there are lots of happy parts.  If you like historical fiction or beautifully written novels, I definitely recommend this book to older readers. I have to admit that it took great discipline for me to finish this book. I started it last year and had read a few chapters here and there, but it mainly sat untouched on my night stand. It seems fitting that I would decide to finish it and read about war on Memorial Day. (Though the German soldiers in the book were the sol...

by Claire Vanderpool - Newbery Award Winner 2011 I really prefer mysteries and suspense, and so I read this historical fiction novel simply because it won the award.  I struggled a bit to get into it - not because it isn't a "good" book - but because I like more action right from the beginning.  I am so happy that I stuck with it all the way to the end.  As I read, I began to really get to know the characters and while it seemed a little disjointed at the beginning, it all tied together in a way I never could have imagined (yet seemed so perfect) in the end.  By the time I was finished, I knew exactly why it won the highest young adult novel award in the country.  It's a story about a young girl in 1936 who's dad sends her to live with an old friend from his past for the summer.  She spends the summer looking for clues to her dad's past with a couple of friends and finds herself reading old newspapers, old hidden letters, and hearing stories from an old Div...